The fact that Ross' apology was sent to Sunshine State News is part of the reason I believe it was insincere.

You see, Evan Ross has spent years using the same type of hateful rhetoric against this publication that he used against Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. Never a good word about it.

He has called SSN the usual names: among others, "right-wing rag" and "fake-news" site.

He hates the fact that I, an outspoken black Democrat, would dare write for SSN, so he, above others, has pushed the narrative that I must be "a Republican plant."

His social media is full of that same drivel.

It seems as though -- certainly, it feels as though -- his life's mission is to discredit me as a Democrat.

Why?

Because I don't toe the party line. I'm not what he deems a "good black Democrat".

I don't blindly vote the way he wants me to vote.

I'm not stuck on that Democratic plantation.

If Evan Ross thinks so poorly of Sunshine State News, and the fact that I write here, why would he send us an apology statement?

I say all of these things to get to this point: Over the weekend, Evan Ross' father emailed me to admonish me for calling his son a monster, and for not believing his son's apology regarding the death threats against Assange and Snowden.

His son is a monster! I said it and I believe it.

I have to wonder where this guy has been while his son was wreaking havoc on South Florida.

Where was Dad when Evan joined Republican Frank Artiles in pushing the narrative that Dwight Bullard was a terrorist?

Where was Dad when Evan was picking all of the social media fights with other Miami Democrats?

Said the elder Mr. Ross in his email, "... you, of all people, should know better than to step on someone at their most openly vulnerable and exploit their lament to draw attention to your brand."

Exploit their lament? Maybe I was just painfully remembering every nasty crack, large and small, he's made about me, other good Democrats and this publication over the last two years.

Talk about an enabler. It's no wonder Evan is the way he is.

First of all, Evan is a grown man who now has his father sending emails out on his behalf, to explain his bad behavior? How absurd is that?

Instead of contacting me, the elder Mr. Ross ought to try straightening his son out.

Threatening murder?

Apologizing because you got caught and now want to do damage control?

That deserves admonishing, elder Mr. Ross, not calling on one of his victims to "feel for" him.

I have to wonder if elder Mr. Ross plans on emailing everyone who has called Evan out on his BS, or is that saved just for me? What do you guys think?

I don't think so.

I actually think that family is obsessed with me.

In that email, elder Mr. Ross talked about karma. I'm not sure if he was threatening me, but I will say this:

Karma is beating Evan's backside like a drum.

Leslie Wimes, a Sunshine State News columnist, is founder and president of Women on the Move and the Democratic African American Women Caucus, www.daawc.com. Follow Leslie on Twitter: @womenonthemove1

Comments

I wish Wimes would stop using SSN as her personal ammunition dump. I am tired of reading the BS contests every day. Oh, and why isn't there any place to write a comment about Gillum' s corruption in the SAO post?

I'm NOT a Democrat and I think what Ross said was stupid, inappropriate, and WRONG, but I don't believe that it was a murder threat. He is getting the punishment in the court of public opinion I believe he deserves and he should be removed from any position of authority in any organization he might belong for saying what he said and for being so stupid to have even uttered those words in a public forum.
Leslie - please take a road that's a bit higher. You are better. Let your friends in the party and other places do the remainder of the work. You got the big rock moved from the top of the hill.

Evan Ross' father had no business emailing Leslie. She most certainly should have blasted him for it. The higher road? I think this IS the higher road. I would have done much worse! Evan Ross is a menace to society, and dear old "dad" is complicit!